WHY YOU SHOULD FORM A PARTNERSHIP
The most commonly reported benefit of school partnerships was the contributions made to intercultural understanding within the school community, followed by an increased understanding of one’s own culture and country.
Effective sister school partnerships can have profound and positive impact on a range of areas of school education, including:
• Student learning
• Teacher capability
• Curriculum, including language learning and intercultural understanding
• Whole school improvement
• Community engagement
For students, benefits include:
• development of intercultural understanding and sensitivity, and an appreciation of different points of view;
• development of 21st century skills to enable critical thinking, cross-cultural collaboration and a positive attitude to diversity;
• greater competency and confidence in language learning and communication skills and renewed enthusiasm for language learning;
• enhanced information communication and technology skills as students interact through wikis, blogs and Skype;
• tangible illustration of the concept of global interconnectedness incorporating authentic collaborative learning activities;
• opportunities for students to locate and explore common ground, bringing a unique intercultural element to collaborative learning;
• development of cross-cultural communication and diplomacy skills and a deeper understanding of international issues;
• development of international friendships and networks;
• increasing awareness of and comfort level with different styles of teaching.
For School staff, benefits include:
• opportunities to benchmark practice against other school systems;
• development of intercultural understanding and sensitivity, and an appreciation of different points of view;
• increased awareness of different education systems, including pedagogies and curriculum;
• greater competency and confidence in language learning and communication skills;
• strengthened Information and Communication Technology skills.
For the school community, benefits include:
• Development of global networks and perspectives, with the flow-on effect of internationalising the ethos of the whole school community
• Raising the profile of language learning across the school community.